Popular Christmas display a poignant memorial this year

Saturday

Dec 14, 2013 at 8:00 AM

Ford Brown's wife passed away last night, but Christmas decorations still went up

Ford Brown knew he was in a race against time when his wife, Tatsue “Kay” Brown, fell and broke her hip in 2009.Combined with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (an increase in pressure due to an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the brain) the added burden of her care necessitated his immediate resignation as guidance counselor, a position he had held at Kewanee High School since the couple moved to Kewanee with their two young sons in 1974. Many people think of Ford during the Christmas season. Cars travel north on East Street every year to see the expansive lighting display at his home on a sloping hillside two miles north of town.The Christmas display was something the Browns had always done together as it grew from a few decorations in the yard to more than 50,000 lights and displays strewn across the property.As Kay’s care required more and more of his time each year, Ford still managed to set up the display, working on it when he could.This year he hoped Kay, 81, a native of Japan, would see it one more time, but she died peacefully in their home on Nov. 25. Ford continued hanging strings of lights in the trees and along the eaves of the house and setting up Christmas characters and displays.“She kept telling me to do it for the kids and now the grandkids,” said Ford, who dedicated this year’s display to his late wife. He says, however, after nearly 40 years, this may be the last year he will put up the popular holiday attraction. It’s just not the same without his wife and partner.Ford said the whole thing started shortly after they moved to Kewanee. They lived in a mobile home while the two of them built the two-story house north of town “from the ground up.” It wasn’t quite finished when they were asked if they would host a holiday party for the Coast Guard Auxiliary, of which Ford was a member. They thought a few outdoor decorations outside would be nice and put up a wreath and a few other ornaments that had belonged to Ford’s mother. Each year they added more.Ford said he begins the project in October when the weather is more favorable. In answer to a question many have asked — he takes everything down every year — eaves, roofline, trees, yard and all — and puts it out the next. He now does it alone as a labor of love. Ford says squirrels, mice, bids nests and weather would damage and rot wires and connections if they were left out all year.One of Kewanee’s best-known and favorite Christmas displays this year is a memorial to a special woman who inspired her husband to create a holiday tradition which, along with her, will be sorely missed.